Japanese Laid Open Utility Model Application (Kokai) No. 23584/1975 discloses a conventional fishing reel of the radially and axially moveable type in which a drag adjustment device is mounted on a rotatable shaft to which a handle is connected. In this conventional spinning reel, friction plates mounted on the rotatable shaft are urged by a drag adjustment cam disc. The drag adjustment cam disc is movable along the axis of the rotatable shaft by a resilient washer. A operating cam disc is provided for slidingly moving the drag adjustment cam disc along the rotatable shaft and is rotatably mounted around a bearing member that is disposed inwardly of the handle and fixedly secured to a side plate of the reel body. The operating cam disc has an operating lever.
The conventional drag adjustment device is rotatably mounted around the bearing member that is fixedly secured to a side plate of a reel body. Consequently, a reaction force persists which urges the friction plates to act on the side plate thereby affecting the overall strength of the side plate. As a result, the strength and rigidity of the side plate must be increased. The problem, however, is that as the strength increases so does the overall weight of the reel.
Further, in the conventional drag adjustment device, a bearing is interposed between the rotatable shaft and the bearing member fixedly secured to the side plate. The bearing is utilized to rotate the shaft and does not perform any function when the operating lever is rotated. In addition, guide threads formed on the operating cam disc engage threads formed in the outer periphery of the bearing member. The reaction force of the drag force is absorbed by these engaged portions and as a result, a large force is required to overcome the drag force to rotate the operating lever. The difficulty is that a large force requirement interferes with the ability to achieve a smooth drag adjustment for finely tuning the drag.